


Sinking the Shot

by RavenclawProngs



Series: Tumbling Through the World [10]
Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers
Genre: Drinking, Human & Country Names Used (Hetalia), M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-03
Updated: 2018-12-03
Packaged: 2019-09-06 05:35:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,552
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16826185
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RavenclawProngs/pseuds/RavenclawProngs
Summary: Sometimes, you just need to unwind.  Prussia and Canada decide engaging in some national pastimes is a great way to do it.





	1. Friends

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter happens immediately after _Maple Walnut Freeze._

Matthew gave a deep sigh of satisfaction as he settled onto his barstool. Gilbert grinned at him sardonically.

"Problems, Mattie?"

He snorted. "Only the usual. I love my brother, but sometimes..."

Prussia grimaced in commiseration. _"Ja,_ I get it. West is great, but he can really get on my nerves."

"Mm."

Smiling gratefully at the bartender as she set down their beers in front of them, Matthew turned to Gilbert with a wry grin. "To brothers! May they never live **too** near."

"I'll drink to that. _Prost!"_

They clinked glasses and took revitalizing sips of their beer, though Matt took a considerably larger one. Gilbert watched this with raised eyebrows.

"Whoa there, Mattie. You trying to get the party started early?"

Matthew set down his beer with a satisfied sigh and laughed at Gilbert's expression.

"C'mon Gil, let's go play some darts!"

He smirked. "You sure you want to go up against me, Birdie?"

Matthew's eyes lit up at the implied challenge.

"Bring it on."

*~*

Several rounds of both darts and beer later, they decided it was best to switch to a game that didn't involve rudimentary weaponry and took over a pool table instead.

Matthew had proven to be surprisingly challenging to beat at darts and Gilbert wondered if pool would go the same way. He really needed to stop underestimating the guy; anyone raised by both England and France had to be pretty decent at holding his liquor.

A few rounds of pool in, he looked up from sinking his shot to notice a couple of women at a nearby table looking over at them and giggling to themselves. Smirking slightly, he nudged Matthew's shoulder.

"Hey. Looks like we're being checked out," he murmured. Mathew blinked, distracted from studying the table. "What?"

Gilbert tilted his head toward the table of somewhat tipsy ladies. Matthew blushed, ducking his head to take a gulp of his beer.

"You don't think they'll come over here, do you?" he muttered, clearly hoping for a 'no'.

Gilbert's eyebrows rose. "You'd rather they not? What, are you shy?"

Matthew hunched in on himself more, his earlier relaxation all but evaporated. "Um. Well, that's part of it. But."

"Not all of it," Gilbert finished. "Okay." He lined up his next shot. "So...?" he prompted.

"Hm?"

"So if it's not just shyness, what else is it, Birdie?"

"Oh." Matt fidgeted with his glass, turning it in slow circles on the edge of the pool table. "It's just... I'm not... interested in what they're offering, is all."

There was a quiet crack as Gilbert sank his next shot. "You mean sex?" Matthew shrugged tensely.

Gilbert hummed contemplatively as he walked around the table, glancing up to meet Matthew's eyes as he asked, "Is it because they're female, or because they're human?"

Matthew squirmed uncomfortably and drained half of his glass in one go. "Neither, really; it's because I don't know any of them."

Gilbert's eyebrows furrowed. "So, you need to know someone already before sleeping with them is an option? Or, not sleeping?"

"Gilbert!" he yelped, face suddenly even darker. "This isn't really the time, you know?"

Gilbert stared at him in confusion, straightening up from the shot he'd been about to take. "You'd rather talk about it after one of them tries to hit on you and you have to deal with letting her down gently instead of letting me run interference for you?"

Matthew just looked at him, dumbfounded. Gilbert sighed, chalking up his cue unnecessarily.

"Sorry, Matthew," he said quietly. "I'll stop talking about it if you want. I'm not trying to make you uncomfortable, I'm just trying to understand."

Matthew sighed heavily, laughing a little. "It's okay, Gil, I know you are; I was just a little surprised is all. I--well, I don't really tell people about it, but I know it isn't exactly... normal."

Gilbert's hands stilled and he looked up at Matthew with a dark scowl. "Don't ever say that about yourself. Besides, what is 'normal' for us?"

Matt shrugged uncomfortably.

"Exactly. You're just you, and there's nothing wrong with that."

Matthew gave him a tentative smile. Gilbert grinned and clapped him on the back.

"That's better, Birdie. Now come on, I'm not done creaming you at pool."

Matthew snorted, challenge sparking in his eyes. "Bring it on, old man."

Gilbert feigned hurt. "Old man! How dare you, you whippersnapper!" As he clutched his chest dramatically and fake-swooned across the table, Matthew slowly sank to the floor, scarcely able to breathe around his laughter.


	2. Lovers

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter happens after _Stared Awake_ and _How Much Wood Would Canada Chuck?_

Matt sighed gratefully as he set down his half-empty glass, slumping in his seat slightly. "You have the best ideas, Gil," he murmured.

Gilbert grinned at him, cheer and the beginnings of a buzz brightening his eyes. "Of course I do, Birdie, I breathe awesome."

Matthew giggled a little at his over-the-top antics, then paused, an uncomfortable expression settling over his face.

"Hey, Gilbert, watch my seat for me, I've got to hit the restroom."

Gilbert flapped one hand in acknowledgement, mid-drink. Turning from watching Matt leave as he set down his mug, he noticed two young women approaching their corner of the bar before settling on the other edge of the corner.

Seeing as they were looking directly at him, he acknowledged them with a genial nod before looking up at the news report on the television and taking another drink.

The two muttered back and forth for a few moments, elbowing one another, before the brunette spoke up, asking in stilted German if he found the news story interesting.

Smiling internally, Gilbert immediately had them pegged for college students, probably here on a school trip, judging by their travel-and suitcase-creased attire. It was nice to meet with students on cultural appreciation trips, so he turned from the television to help them practice their German while he waited for Matt to come back.

_"I'm not sure how anyone wouldn't--without that dog's quick responses, that entire family would've died."_

Her friend jumped in with, _"Do you have any dogs?"_

Gilbert laughed, always happy to talk about animals.

_"No, but my brother has three. I have a pet bird, though. He's the best bird ever."_

The two women smiled, clearly glad to have a topic of conversation that wasn't too taxing on their possibly limited vocabularies.

The brunette, clearly an animal-lover, continued with, _"And what about your friend? Does he have any pets?"_

Gilbert's mouth twisted in wry amusement, remembering Kumajirou's version of a shovel talk.

_"Yeah, he's got a pet. It's a bear."_

The ladies gasped and the blonde tried to clarify, _"Not a **real** bear, right? I didn't think that was legal!"_

He schooled his features to not show his discomfort. Sometimes it was hard to remember that what was normal for their kind was quite weird for humans, especially when norms shifted. He decided a small lie wouldn't hurt them any and laughed as if he'd made a joke. _"Nah, just looks like one. Kuma stays at home while Matt travels."_

She made a noise of understanding and started to ask where Matt was from, only to be run over by her friend asking, _"Is he single?"_

Gilbert blinked at her in bemusement. He was just opening his mouth to answer in the negative when Matt reappeared from the bathroom, looking vaguely harassed.

"Sorry I took so long; there was a hell of a line."

Gilbert snapped his jaw shut and gave him a warm smile, shrugging apologetically to his two acquaintances before snagging Matt's shoulder to pull him in a little closer so he could mutter in his ear. "No worries, Birdie, I was just helping these two ladies practice their German. Seems like we had a bit of a miscommunication, though."

The brunette was starting to frown in confusion (really, he was holding Matt far too intimately for friendship) while understanding bloomed on her blonde friend's face. Matthew didn't notice, having merely given them a polite smile before turning back to face Gilbert, lowering his already soft voice to where Gilbert could hardly hear him. "What kind of miscommunication?" he asked.

Gilbert squeezed his shoulder slightly, expression growing rueful. "The same kind you and I had a while back when you were thinking in French and I wasn't," he hedged, hoping Matthew would get it and help him save these girls some embarrassment.

In a credit to his intelligence, the confusion cleared from Matthew's face almost immediately.

"Ohh," he breathed. Then he frowned again. "Wait, how?"

Gilbert sighed. Much as he loved his language, there **was** something to be said for the clarity of English in this instance.

"They called you _mein Fruend_ and I didn't realized they meant _ein Fruend von mir,"_ he admitted.

Understanding dawned yet again and Matthew looked over at the two young ladies sat near them. Looking back at Gilbert in helpless distress, he turned to them and explained, gently, in English, since it seemed the simplest choice, "Friend and boyfriend are the same word in German."

Eyes growing round, they both mouthed, "Oh."

Conversation continued after that, but it was a little stilted and the two young ladies left with a few of their friends not long after, a faint aura of relief shadowing them.

Matthew and Gilbert kept up their usual bar-time banter for a bit but after a while Gilbert grew quiet, staring into his beer for long moments at a time. Matthew recognized the usual signs of Gilbert reaching the point of the night where their conversations turned serious. He kept quiet and let Gilbert take his time, like he usually would, but he noted that is was much earlier in the evening than these conversations normally took place. Gilbert was nearly sober and he himself was just starting to get tipsy.

Eventually, Gilbert ventured, "Hey, Birdie? Are you... okay with how I treat you in public?"

Matthew blinked in startlement. Whatever he'd been expecting Gil to say, a "how is our relationship working" question wasn't it.

Raising his eyes to the Prussian, he was met with a serious and almost upset look in his eye.

Clearing his throat, Matthew hedged, "What do you mean? I mean, you don't really treat me much different than you ever have."

Gilbert sighed, shoulders slumping. "That's exactly what I mean! If I were more affectionate with you around other people, things like this evening wouldn't happen! It's just... I don't want to push you, or anything. And I'm... not really very good with the whole 'PDA'... thing. Er, the last time I was... romantically involved, it was, ah, made very clear to me that showing excessive affection was a bad thing."

Matthew bit his lip. "Well, sure, but what counts as 'excessive'? It's not like you'd try undressing me in public or something."

Gilbert looked mildly scandelized. "Of course not, Birdie." He smirked at him mischievously. "Besides, if I did that, I'd have to fight the entire bar off of you," he purred. Matthew's face flamed.

"Gilbert! Be serious."

"Oh, but I am," he insisted, still in that low gravely tone. Then he pulled back a little and lightened his voice as he continued, **"Seriously** though, since you insist, should I be... more affectionate in public? Am I doing alright, as a boyfriend and all?"

Matthew sighed and knocked his shoulder against Gilbert's companionably. "I don't want you to do anything you're uncomfortable with. But I certainly wouldn't object if you were more... openly romantic with me."

Gilbert growled quietly in frustration. "But what do you **want,** Mattie? Not just what would you be okay with, what do you actively **want** from me?" His voice was tight with frustration, but his eyes were pleading.

Matthew's gaze sharpened. Voice rougher than usual, he answered, "I want you to kiss me hello, I want you to hold my hand when we walk down the street, I want you to sit too close for being just friends. If, um, if any of that's... too much for you, I get it. But, you did ask."

Gilbert gave him a relieved smile and leaned over to kiss him on the cheek. "I'm comfortable with all of that. I want to do that.

Er, but, is there... anything you're not comfortable with? In public **or** in private, this time."

"Um," Matthew squeaked. "Uh, well, that is--sex!" His face bloomed with color again and this time, Gilbert joined him, pale skin suddenly rosy. Matthew rushed to add, "Not that I mean--never, it's just that, um, it takes a while for me to even be **interested** in--er, well, with another person, anyway--and um, oh please shut me up, oh god why am I--"

Gilbert placed a gentle finger on Matt's lips. Matthew gratefully stopped talking, leaning a little further into Gilbert's space.

"Relax, Birdie, I'm not ready for that either. Though, I suspect it might be for different reasons...?" He trailed off thoughtfully, a slight frown creasing his features.

"You've said you're usually not even interested? Are you demisexual or something?"

Matthew gently nipped him and Gilbert belatedly pulled his finger away from Matthew's lips. Matthew smiled at him wryly. "I'm going to go with 'or something'? I'm not exactly sure what I am, but that one's a pretty good fit."

Gilbert shrugged. "Fair enough. Not like any of us can have it all figured out. But, have you ever, before?"

"What, had sex?" Gilbert blushed again, looking around them uncomfortably. Matthew glanced around as well, but there was no one within ready earshot, so he leaned closer to Gilbert and lowered his voice a bit. "Yeah, I have, but it's been a very long time. And they're... not alive anymore. How about you?"

Gilbert tossed back the last of his beer and set down his empty mug. "Yeah. They're... still alive, but only because they're like us." He raised a hand to get the bartender's attention and gestured to both of them. The barkeep nodded in acknowledgement and started pouring another round for the two of them.

Matthew watched the foam on the side of his glass dissipate before slowly drinking the rest of it and meeting Gilbert's eyes as the bartender set fresh glasses in front of them.

"Okay. It... kind of sounds like it's been a while for you, too?" 

Gilbert shrugged. _"Ja._ For different reasons, though, you know? It's... not like I'm not **interested,** more that--well. There's still part of me that feels you're not **supposed** to do that sort of thing out of wedlock, or in our case, at least a serious relationship. We're just... not at a point where it feels appropriate, you know?"

Matthew gave him a relieved smile. "Yeah, I do. I'm not really... there, yet, either." His mouth twisted slightly. "No telling if we'll even get there at the same time, though."

Gilbert snorted. "True. But I have a feeling we'll get there eventually, nevertheless."

Matthew nodded, then bit his lip. Taking a deep breath, he decided to call Gilbert out and said, "Maybe at some point we'll even be able to talk about these things without pretending to be drunk first, eh?"

Gilbert stared at him for so long, Matthew started to worry he'd seriously offended the man before Gil started laughing quietly.

"Yeah, I guess you've got me there."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _Freund_ really does mean either 'friend' or 'boyfriend' in German (and _Freunde_ means girlfriend or just 'friend who is female'). Context is everything. However, if you want to ask out a German, saying _Willst du mein Freund/meine Freunde sein?_ or 'Do you want to be my boyfriend/girlfriend?' makes it very clear what you mean. Make sure you get the genders right!


End file.
